Mitakuye Oyasin is a Lakota word that means all things are related, the animals, the land, the ancestors and most importantly the people. Over the full moon weekend of August 28–30, 2015, activists, artists, musicians and tribal members from across the country came together in the Black Hills of South Dakota for a concert and a collective prayer to restore sacred land to its rightful caretakers, the Lakota people.

The Black Hills Unity Concert allowed people to bring their own medicine and share it with the community. We got the chance to ask seven participants what it is that they stand for. Their answers to this one simple question reminds us that we are truly interconnected.

Standing Fox

"The preservation of people and land. Everyday is a ceremony, so live it as that."

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Future ancestor.
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I remember minutes after my son Tonatiuh was born, he looked at me with his deep eyes and without any words he said “Dad, I’ve been on this epic journey” at that moment my fear of death went away temporally. There he was, a little boy with so much wisdom, a manifestation of the past and the future.
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I also felt this big responsibility on my shoulders, and to be honest I felt lost. I had no reference point on how to be a father. During this time is when I started understanding the power of ceremony and the commitment of being a good role model for my son. It was heavy and scary but I was determined to do it right and grow. I had just quit my job as a food server and started doing photography full time. No school. No money. Just the desire to push my family forward and be a good man. I wanted to be everything my dad wasn’t for me, and more.
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#followyourlight

Continued SWIPE RIGHT 👉🏽
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I hated photography because my dad is a photographer. I grew up around cameras, rolls of film but most importantly I grew up seeing the power of connection through image making.
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One thing my father was really good at was giving away his things. I remember we would go to little towns in Mexico to deliver peoples images and often people didn’t have money to pay for the images. My dad would say “It’s ok, pay me next time” and he would forget about it. As a result, every time we would come through these towns we would be fed more than I could ever eat. People took care of us.
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When I was 21 I followed my light, I had just gone through a major upgrade in my operating system and in my heart. My fear of death was definitely there but now I had a tool to accept it. My camera.
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#followyourlight

Continued.
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As my therapy sessions got more detailed, I began to feel compassion for my father. I also knew that it wasn’t my responsibility to heal him. In the darkest times during my childhood, I would wait for him outside the bar for hours, hoping he would come out not too drunk so we could go home safely and for him not to die on an accident.
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Deep down inside, I just wanted him to stop suffering because I loved him, but everyday he was farther away from being alive. His spirit was stuck between alcohol and his desire to be a good man.
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#followyourlight